Various flow control techniques are often utilized to control the flow characteristics of an airstream or other fluid flow over a surface. For example, airflow over an airfoil can be manipulated using flow control techniques to alter the separation location of the flow on the airfoil and to reduce drag. There are numerous types of existing flow control techniques used to control some characteristic of an airflow. For example, static techniques include bumps and projections placed on a surface to strategically disrupt or guide an airflow over the surface. Active flow control techniques include changing a shape of an airfoil, electronically altering the skin friction of a surface, and using synthetic jet actuators to pump an actuating airflow into and out of a surface to interact with and alter the ambient airflow.
Active flow control devices that introduce an actuating airflow into the ambient airflow, such as with synthetic jet actuators, can be particularly effective in various low speed environments. However, as the airspeed of the corresponding aircraft increases, and consequently the speed of the ambient airflow to be controlled increases, most synthetic jet actuators are not capable of producing actuating flows of sufficient velocity to affect the ambient airflow in the desired manner.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.